


The Arrival

by HQuinn



Series: Warden Arianna [11]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: Birth, F/M, Family, Father's Day, Fatherhood, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-19
Updated: 2016-06-19
Packaged: 2018-07-16 01:14:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7246279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HQuinn/pseuds/HQuinn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anders' and Ari's son arrives in the world</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Arrival

“Where. Is. My. Husband?” Ari growled in between deep breaths.  She was on the bed, her knees up, and sitting with her arms behind her to hold herself up.  Sweat started to form on her brow.

“I don’t know, my lady.  We’ve sent runners to look for him, but you should really lie back and try to relax.” 

Ari glared at the woman and wondered how much trouble she’d be in for punching her in her stupid face.  Before she could think too much on it she was distracted by the door slamming open, and for one moment she held her breath waiting for Anders to appear. She let out a breath of half disappointment, half appreciation when Alistair quickly strode into the room and to her side.

“Ali,” she gave him a pained smile.

“Shh,” he replied, taking the wet towel from the healer and patting her head with it.  “I know I’m not who you want to see. I completely abused my power and sent every free guardsman to comb the city looking for him.”

“Whe…” Ari grunted. “Where’s Elea…” she winced.

“Ele’s fine. She’s at the castle, Teagan’s watching her, she’ll stay there tonight. You just worry about you right now, ok?” he squeezed her shoulder and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

“It’s almost time,” The healer spoke as she looked over Ari, who contemplated smacking her again.

“No.” She grunted. “Not until he’s here.”

“I don’t think the babe cares whether…”

“Alistair.  Make that vile woman stop talking.” Ari growled at him.

Alistair gave the healer an apologetic look, “Maybe just a few minutes.”

“It’s alright, your Majesty. In this line of work, you get used to the name calling. I’ll be right in the other room.” the healer nodded.

Alistair pulled down a pillow from the head of the bed so she could lie down, and he helped her lean back.

“Better?” He asked while he softly brushed her hair back from her face.

She nodded and started to cry. “What if he’s not back in time? Ali….” her sobs kept her from finishing her thought.

“Shh, it’s fine. He’ll be here and I’m here for you until then, just breathe.” He pet her head with the towel again trying to keep her calm while working on not showing how freaked out he really was inside. He hoped his men were able to locate Anders soon.

*** 

Anders hands stopped glowing as he collapsed exhausted into the chair. The woman on the other side of the room looked at him anxiously, her apron twisted in her hands.

“Your boy will be fine,” Anders tried to reassure the woman. “He’ll have a bump on his head and some soreness, but he should be ok, just bring him to the clinic in two days for me to check on him.”

“Oh thank you, healer.” The woman sobbed as she dashed across the room and knelt by her son’s bed, holding his hand. Anders closed his eyes. He’d been all over town that night helping all manner of injuries from people unable to get to the clinic. He prayed he’d be allowed just a few minutes to rest and then he’d head back home. A bout of whooping cough had been running through the slums, and he’d been running nearly 24/7 the last several days. He hoped things calmed down soon as Ari was due in another two weeks.

“Healer, healer wake up,” he felt the boy’s father shaking him.  _ So much for that rest. _

“I’m awake, what is it?” Anders asked groggily as he blinked rapidly to push aside the sleep from his brain.

“Ser, there’s a guard here for you. You need to get back home.” The man nudged him again.

Home? Why was a guard looking for him? Did something happen to Ele? To Ari? Maybe to the King? Anders jolted upright and started to panic as he gathered up his things quickly, shoving them haphazardly into his bag.  He rushed to the front door, where there was in fact two guards waiting.  He felt a large stone in his gut. Whatever it was, it was big if  _ two  _ Palace guards were looking for him.

He nodded to the guards as he exited the house. He was afraid to ask, but knew he had to.  “What…”

“Messere Anders, it’s your wife,” the taller guard started to say. Anders heart stopped beating, he could feel it clinch. He struggled to keep his legs under him. He couldn’t lose her, not  _ her _ . 

“Your child is on it’s way, Ser. We’re to get you back right away.”

Anders felt a rush of adrenaline hit him knowing the news was good,  _ the best _ , and not something horrendous. Without waiting for the Palace guards, he ran as fast as he could back to their home. The guards at the Palace Gate must have known to keep watch for him as they didn’t even stop him for the customary check, just stepped aside as he ran past. Anders wondered how it was that their cottage suddenly seemed so far away from the gate. Running through the Palace grounds, it felt as if they must have moved their small home further away somehow.

When he finally reached the front door after what felt like days, he slammed the door open and dropped his bags with a loud thud.  He ran through the kitchen and to the bedroom to see his beloved.

*** 

Ari stared at the ceiling trying to ignore the desire to push. She would wait, she  _ had _ to wait. She needed him here. Why wasn’t he here?  

Alistair and the healer kept telling her they couldn’t wait, but they didn’t understand. They didn’t know all the things Anders had told her about his life. They couldn’t possibly understand how important it was that he be here. She  _ needed  _ him to be here, to have  _ this _ . He needed something good, something pure in his life, something to make up for all the bad that had been done to him. She needed him here, if he was here it meant everything would be ok, that she could relax and not worry. Tears filled her eyes again and her breathing sped up as she felt herself starting to panic that he wasn’t there. Her mind started running through dozens of horrible things that could have happened to him to keep him from being there. Maybe the Templars caught up with him, did someone from Kirkwall take revenge? 

Ari let out a half sob before she caught the noise with a gulp. Alistair squeezed her hand gently but said nothing, touching her cheek, trying to get her to calm.

There was a loud bang followed by another crash.  _ What in the maker was going on out there? _

Before she had the chance to ask Alistair to see who had let the bronto into her house she heard the bedroom door slam open and a second later Anders face was hovering over hers, his hands touching her cheeks as he pressed kisses all over her face.

Ari breathed out a sigh of relief. Tears, this time of happiness, not worry, fell as he bent down and kissed her lips. “Hey, there’s my Angel. I’m sorry, I’m here, it’s ok.” Anders stroked her cheek, calming her instantly.

“Now that the Messere is here, shall we start, my lady?” Ari heard the healer speak from the foot of the bed.

“No,” Ari cried out and grabbed Anders arm. “I want you to. Not her, you.”

“Love,” Anders kissed her forehead. “She’s a Royal healer. And if I’m down there I can’t be up here with you.”

“Please,” Ari started to cry again. She couldn’t understand herself why it was suddenly so important that he be the healer, only that it was. “I only want you, please.”

Anders shushed her and nodded. “Ok, ok. It’s alright, sweetheart.” The mage looked next to him. “Alistair, you sit up here with her, let her lean on your chest, keep her sitting up.” As soon as he said it, he realized it had been the first time he’d ever addressed the King by name, and he started to worry that he’d chosen the worst possible time to test the limits with the man.

Alistair seemed not to notice as he was focused completely on her. He moved behind Ari as instructed and helped her rest against him as she took hold of his legs for leverage.

“Good girl,” Anders gave her another quick peck on the lips. He tried to apologize to the healer but she just shook him off and offered to help however he needed. 

“It’s more important to keep the mother calm than worry about anyone’s pride.” The woman patted his arm.

Anders sat on the chair placed at the foot of the bed and his focus changed from that of anxious father-to-be, to healer. It was a role that he switched into comfortably, like an old pair of slippers.

He spoke to her softly, and caressed her leg to get her to focus on him. “Ok Angel, when I tell you to, you’re going to push.”

She nodded and waited for his instruction.  Unlike Eleanor, which had taken hours, her son made his entrance into the world rather quickly. In what seemed like very little time, Anders was cutting the cord and washing his son.  _ His son! _ Tears filled the mage’s eyes as he wrapped the tiny boy in a blanket and carried him to his wife who was now laying back down, propped up by pillows instead of the King of Ferelden.  

In the Circle he’d all but given up hope on finding love, Karl Thekla was the closest he had ever come. The idea of a wife and a family were not even remote possibilities. That was nothing more than a dream that taunted his nights in the Circle when he was alone with only his thoughts to keep him company. For a short bit, when he was free, he thought...  _ maybe. _ But then the Wardens and merging with Justice took away even that small chance, and he had resigned himself that it was a dream that would never live anywhere but his heart.  _ But now _ , now he was holding his son,  _ his son _ , here in his arms. He was real, he was beautiful, and Anders felt like his heart was just going to explode from joy. He thought he had known happiness before. The first time Ari had kissed him, when they had admitted their love for each other, all of it paled in comparison to how he was feeling in this moment.

By the time he reached her bedside, tears were falling down his face freely.  _ His son, his precious little baby boy _ . Anders handed their son to her waiting arms and crawled into the bed next to her, wrapping an arm around Ari as they both watched the boy with awe. Anders couldn’t stop touching him, his tiny little fingers, his chubby little arms. He had his mother’s green eyes, but Anders was struck by seeing the newborn shared his nose and his strawberry-blonde hair.  He was like the perfect meld of the two of them. Ari nuzzled the boy’s cheek with her fingertips as Anders leaned over and kissed her forehead.

Anders made a silent promise to the boy right there that he would always know that he was loved, that he was perfect just how he was. He swore that he would always keep him safe, always defend him, always be his champion. It wasn’t until this moment that he truly understood how it was that Zevran could have given up his life without hesitation to keep Eleanor safe. He knew right then and there that if he had to, he’d do the exact same for the boy in his wife’s arms.

“He’s perfect,” She said to him, her eyes never leaving the sleeping boy.

“I love you,” Anders told her as his son wrapped small fingers around his pinky finger.

“I love you too,” she looked into Anders’ eyes and smiled so large, tears showing in her eyes.  She leaned her head against his shoulder.

“So, um,” Alistair blushed, feeling awkward interrupting the scene. “Do you have a name?”

Anders looked at Ari who gave him a nod. “Karl Oren” Anders told Alistair. “Karl, meet your Uncle Alistair.”

Alistair beamed down at the boy. Eleanor had been a toddler when he had met her for the first time.  Seeing the infant, it filled him with wonder. He felt honored to have been a part of this, even if it had been an accident of fate. The child was so tiny, but already he could see very clearly signs of both parents in his face.

Alistair left shortly after, promising to return in the  _ very late _ morning with Eleanor so she could meet her new brother. The healers left soon after, finally leaving the new family alone. Ari placed Karl into Anders’ arm and snuggled into the crook of the other.

“Thank you, Angel,” he told her as he kissed her forehead.

“For what?” she asked him, confused what he’d be thanking her for.

“For this. For our family. I love you both so much.” His eyes started to tear again.

Ari leaned up slightly and placed another soft kiss to his lips. She filed away her hatred of what the Circle had done to him for another time, for now she just wanted to bask in this feeling of love for her two men.  

“I love you both too.” She told him. She nuzzled back into his side as sleep took her.  

He stayed awake and just watched his son, amazed at every little movement the boy made, every little yawn and coo. He was a miracle, the answer to so many prayers and dreams. He was more perfect than Anders had ever dreamed him to be. Anders’ heart filled with excitement at the anticipation of showing him the world, of teaching him everything he could.  _ He had a son. _


End file.
